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In January 2009 Freya Hoffmeister, a 46-year-old kayaker from Husum, Germany, set out to paddle around a continent in a sea kayak. In December of that year, 322 days and over 8500 miles later, she had completed a solo circumnavigation of Australia, considered one of, if not the most challenging endeavors in the world of sea kayaking. Many other kayakers have attempted the circumnavigation since Paul Caffyn did it 27 years ago, but all of them stopped well short of the goal. Freya’s “Race Around Australia” was completed in record time and established her as the first woman to complete the journey.
What made it so formidable? Huge saltwater crocodiles, great white sharks, venomous sea snakes and deadly jelly fish, massive surf, the challenge of coordinating freshwater and food dumps, three 100-mile stretches of sheer cliffs without any landing zones and dangerous cyclones were some of the most daunting threats. As an extra challenge she made an 8-day, 7-night crossing of the 350-mile-wide Gulf of Carpentaria. In spite of the physical toll of paddling in the tropical heat Freya averaged upward of 35 miles per day for nearly a year.
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